1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to motor vehicle pedals. More particularly, but without restriction to the particular embodiment and/or use which is shown and described for purposes of illustration, the present invention relates to pedal systems that provide for adjustment of the brake, clutch, or accelerator pedal relative to a vehicle driver.
2. Discussion
In a conventional automobile, pedals are provided for controlling the acceleration and braking functions of the vehicle. If the vehicle includes a manual transmission, a clutch pedal is typically provided. In most motor vehicles today, the pedals have fixed locations. Typically, these pedals are fixed to the body of the vehicle at a point, so that the pedal will pivot about the fixed point when foot pressure is applied by the operator. In order to accommodate driver's of varying physiques, the driver's seat is generally slidingly engaged to the vehicle such that a driver can position himself or herself relative to either the steering wheel or the pedals. This adjustment provides, to a certain degree, an improvement of driver comfort.
However, it is nearly impossible to such a single adjustment to accommodate all possible variances in human physiques. In particular, the proportional relation between the lengths of a driver's arms and legs in relation to the driver's overall torso size cannot be accommodated through a single adjustment. For example, many smaller people have small legs. Therefore, when they drive a motor vehicle, they must position the seat in its foremost position in order to properly reach the pedals. Unfortunately, their arms and torso are typically too close to the steering wheel of the vehicle to be comfortable. Accordingly, it has been widely recognized that some type of pedal adjustment is desirable to provide optimal comfort to the driver while he or she is operating the vehicle.
Many approaches to providing adjustable pedals have been suggested in the prior art. The most common approach is to provide some type of pushrod, racheting, or camming device so that the pedal will operate in a different pivotal range. By utilizing such a device, the static position of the pedal can be modified in the forward and rearward direction. An example of this approach is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 5,771,752, issued Jun. 30, 1998. Although, in general, this type of system works satisfactorily in providing an adjustable pedal, the distance of the pedal to the floor will change as the pedal is pivoted. This may be not desirable because it changes the angle at which foot pressure needs to be applied, and may affect the angle at which the master cylinder pushrod for a brake pedal is activated.
Many other adjustable pedal systems have been developed in the recent years that provide a linear movement of the pedals so as to maintain the relationship between the pedal and floor. A few examples of such applications can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,871, issued Oct. 3, 1989, U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,302, issued Mar. 3, 1998, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,010,782, issued Apr. 30, 1991. Although prior art devices such as those described above have proven to be successful, there is a need to develop a system that properly accommodates pedal attachments while the pedal is translated in a longitudinal manner.
Attachments are used to actually activate the desired function of the vehicle, for example, a brake pedal will activate a brake booster via some sort of attachment commonly referred to as a pushrod. The present invention also represents substantial improvements over the pedal design disclosed in the aforementioned patents.